Image by Christa Holka / Anna Fernandez
Nan, Me & Barbara Pravi
TOURING 2023-24 FOLLOWING THE EDINBURGH FRINGE OF DREAMS
WINNER OF THE SUMMERHALL LUSTRUM AWARD
NOMINATED FOR THE BBC POPCORN AWARD FOR NEW WRITING
“I wish I could say here our story starts. But this story starts later, and ended earlier. Is entirely fictional, and completely true. Voila.”
In 2021, Hannah Maxwell moved back to the Home Counties to care for her terminally ill grandfather. But this show isn’t about that. It’s about France’s Eurovision star Barbara Pravi, who’s just lovely.
In between cooking, cleaning and Countdown, Maxwell escapes into an intensifying fantasy of ballroom dances, heartfelt ballads, Parisian cafés, fluent French and definitely-not-creepy plots to engineer a meetcute with a random foreign celebrity. It’s La La Land meets Mission Impossible meets Hannah’s nan.
Combining spoken-word, video and chanson francaise, NAN, ME & BARBARA PRAVI sits you down at the kitchen table to talk through grief and care, addiction and recovery, and hope and coping in unprecedented times.
Production photography by Ines Yearwood-Sanchez
Commissioned by Camden People’s Theatre and supported by Menagerie Theatre Company, Queen Mary University of London, Old Diorama Arts Centre, Vaults Theatre and CLAY Leeds. Made possible by generous support from Arts Council England.
Creative Team
Written and performed by Hannah Maxwell
Producer: Becky Plotnek / Plotnek Productions
Dramaturgy: Annie Siddons
Performance Direction: Len Gwyn
Technical Stage Manager: Ruth Green
Technical Design & Lighting Design Consultant: Jo Palmer
Costume & Set Design: Rachel Gammon
Sound Design: Juan Luis Casanellas Donoso
Video Design: Livvy Lynch
Choreographer: Daniel Hay-Gordon
Animation: May Kindred-Boothby
Touring Operators: Graham Self / Benji Huntrods
Lead Image Photography: Christa Holka
Lead Image Digital Post-production: Anna Fernandez
Voiceover: Angela Dunham (Hannah’s Nan)
““A masterclass in storytelling.” ”
““Watch it and its appeal is obvious.””
““So delightful and clever.””
““An outstanding production, beautiful, funny and sad.””
““You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll be glad you are alive.””
““Maxwell’s writing is electric, witty and charmingly delivered.””
““A warm-hearted, insightful and inspirational exploration of the need to care: for others, and for ourselves.””
““A bracing, always sharply entertaining turn of phrase and an irresistible presence.””
““Douze points across the board.””
““Productions like these are extremely hard to come by.””